FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT WATER POLO

Both Burroughs High and Burbank navigated through the last boys' water polo season headed by first-year coaches. Now it is the girls' teams turn to do the same, with both the Indians and Bulldogs welcoming new head coaches to captain their programs. Continuing to parallel each other, both schools will turn to a former Indians player to replace a departing head coach with the name of Garcia. At Burroughs, Michael Singhanate steps in for Danny Garcia, while at Burbank, Allyson Young takes over for Kristina Garcia (no relation)

WHITTIER - The Burbank High boys' water polo season endured a wild conclusion to its 2013 season. Essentially, the Bulldogs lost their CIF Southern Section Division V wild card playoff game against Whittier twice. The Cardinals seemingly defeated Burbank by a goal in overtime. Each team vacated the pool, Whittier posed for celebratory pictures and the Bulldogs showered and toweled off. Then word came that a mistake had been made. Whittier's Jose Avila had received his third exclusion 25 seconds into the first of two three-minute overtime periods.

By Grant Gordon, grant.gordon@latimes.com and By Grant Gordon, grant.gordon@latimes.com | November 10, 2013

A season ago, the Burbank High boys' water polo team finished off one of its more successful campaigns in the CIF Southern Section Division V quarterfinals. For the Bulldogs to get there again, they'll need to take a much different and more arduous path. Upon the release Sunday of playoff pairings, the Bulldogs were sent on the road to Whittier, where they'll begin their postseason on Tuesday in the division's only wild card match. Whittier took third in the Del Rio League, while Burbank (10-11)

BOYS' WATER POLO Burbank in Pacific League Tournament: Despite leading as late as the two-minute mark in the third quarter, Burbank fell in the third-place game of the Pacific League Tournament, 12-9, to Pasadena on Thursday afternoon in the battle of the Bulldogs. Dante Nazarian led fourth-seeded Burbank with four goals and three steals, while Rob Mheryan contributed two goals and one steal, Andres Pulgarin chipped in two steals and two assists and Arman Torosian tallied two steals.

BURBANK - With its most productive player sidelined with an injury, Burbank High's boys' water polo team wondered how it would perform without the services of top scorer Dante Nazarian. And the Bulldogs would have to find that out against cross-town rival Burroughs. The Bulldogs' Arthur Mheryan wanted to make sure he did his part to fill in for his injured teammate. Despite suffering through a slow start, the Bulldogs came on in the second half, receiving a match-high six goals from Mheryan to turn back the Indians, 10-4, on Wednesday in a Pacific League contest at Burbank.

BURBANK - If the Burbank High boys' water polo team learned anything following its recent home match against Pacific League rival Pasadena, it's that you can't rest on an early lead. Burbank standout Dante Nazarian said that early overconfidence stoked by a 5-1 advantage led to substandard defense, allowing Pasadena to get back into the game. "We became too sure that it was our game, and some of our players were slacking off on defense," Nazarian said. Burbank blew an early four-goal lead in losing to Pasadena, 13-9, on Thursday.

GLENDALE - A pair of two-goal deficits in the third quarter weren't enough to bury the Burbank High boys' water polo team in the second Pacific League match of the year at Hoover High. For the second time in the third frame, the Tornadoes had an opportunity to seize momentum with a three-goal lead when they earned a man advantage with 8:29 to play in the game. PHOTOS: Hoover vs. Crescenta Valley boys' water polo Hoover's near-post shot was saved by Burbank goalie Derek Baer.

BURBANK - It didn't matter to Derek Baer what lineup he faced. The senior goalkeeper for the Burbank High boys' water polo team knew it would be a challenge facing Flintridge Prep, ranked No. 4 in the latest CIF Southern Section Division V poll, on Tuesday in a nonleague home match. Baer stepped up and answered the call, as he made 12 saves to spark Burbank to a convincing 14-7 victory. “We knew coming in that it would be a tough matchup and we had to go out there and play our absolute best,” said Baer, who made seven second-half saves.

BURBANK — The members of the Burroughs High boys' water polo team just wanted to get into the pool this week and face an opponent to begin their season — any opponent. Under the direction of a new coach, the Indians were finally able to kick off their campaign Monday, rolling to an easy nonleague victory against Mark Keppel. Burroughs looked to build on that success Wednesday when it hosted Monrovia in a nonleague contest. After a slow start, the Indians were able to create separation in the second quarter, led by a solid defensive effort and poor shooting from the Wildcats.